OpenRocket — The Complete Guide: Free Design and Simulation of Model Rockets
OpenRocket is an open-source tool for designing and simulating model and amateur rockets. You build the rocket from components — nose cone, body tube, fins, motor and parachute — and the program computes stability and a full flight trajectory.
OpenRocket
OpenRocket Project
Design and flight simulation for model and high-power rockets.
Get it from the vendorWhat you get
- Stability — centre of gravity versus centre of pressure, and stability margin throughout the flight.
- Six-degree-of-freedom simulation — trajectory, velocity, acceleration, apogee and wind effects.
- Motor database — thrust curves of commercial motors.
- Parachutes and stages — deployment, landing speed and multi-stage rockets.
- Optimisation — searching dimensions for maximum altitude or a target stability.
Who it suits
Aerospace and mechanical engineering students, competition teams and teachers: it is a hands-on way to learn aerodynamics, dynamics and stability. For wing and airfoil analysis — XFLR5; for detailed flow around the body — SU2 or OpenFOAM.
XFLR5
XFLR5 Project
Aerofoil and aircraft analysis for low Reynolds numbers.
Get it from the vendor
SU2
SU2 Foundation
Multiphysics CFD with adjoint-based design optimisation — systematic shape improvement.
Get it from the vendor
OpenFOAM
OpenFOAM Foundation
Comprehensive CFD solvers — flow, turbulence, heat transfer and multiphase. Text-file driven, no GUI.
Get it from the vendorOpenVSP
NASA
NASA parametric aircraft geometry modelling for conceptual design.
Get it from the vendorThe bottom line
OpenRocket is the leading free tool for model rockets, with accuracy that is enough for most educational and competition projects.